Complaint volume
127 consumer-submitted complaints are matched to this model year. Treat the count as a research signal, then read the actual summaries for repeated symptoms.
Complaint records
2021 Honda Odyssey Complaints
127 consumer-submitted complaints on record for the 2021 Honda Odyssey, grouped by component category.
127 Total complaints
2 Crash reports
1 Fire reports
4 Injury reports
Complaint data reflects consumer-submitted reports. A complaint is not proof
of a defect, recall, or manufacturer fault. Enriched severity fields come
from official bulk records when the complaint can be matched by ODI number.
Buyer interpretation
How to use these complaints before buying
Complaint records are most useful when they turn into inspection points, seller questions, and comparison checks against nearby model years.
Pattern to inspect
The most common categories are electrical system, air bags, unknown or other. Use those categories as a test-drive checklist instead of judging the vehicle from the total count alone.
Severity flags
Enriched records include 2 crash reports, 1 fire report, 4 injury reports, and 0 fatality reports. These fields come from complaint records and should be read in context.
Mileage clue
Mileage is available on 11 complaints, with an average reported failure mileage of 27,537 miles. Compare that with the mileage on the listing.
Questions to ask the seller
- Have you had any problems related to electrical system, air bags, unknown or other?
- Can I see recent maintenance and repair records?
- Has the vehicle ever been towed, involved in a crash, or repaired for the same issue twice?
- Can we also check the recall record for this 2021 Honda Odyssey?
Used-car checklist
Use these complaints before the test drive.
Build a buyer checklist to turn these issues into questions and inspection points.
2021 Honda Odyssey
Build buyer checklist Compare with other years Sends year, make, and model to pre-fill your checklist.
How severe are the 2021 Honda Odyssey complaints?
2 Crash
1 Fire
4 Injury
0 Fatality
1 Towed
3 Medical attention
What are the most common 2021 Honda Odyssey complaint categories?
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM 25
AIR BAGS 15
UNKNOWN OR OTHER 12
ENGINE 8
FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE 5
SUSPENSION 5
STRUCTURE 4
ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,ENGINE 3
POWER TRAIN 3
VISIBILITY/WIPER 3
127 total complaints on record
Latest complaints
| Date | Component | Summary | Severity | Mileage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2025 | ENGINE | In stop and go highway traffic. Engine cut off when at a stop during "Ecoboost." Had to turn off car and restart. Was able to restart with no problem. Full tank of gas. Fresh oil. No error messages before and after | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Apr 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,LANE DEPARTURE,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | It started that all the sensor in our car started to go off. We were told we had a bad battery, even thought we had replaced it new just last year. Once we had the battery checked and alternator. The sensors started to act up again, out tail gate started to malfunction. Wouldn’t automatically close. A few weeks ago driving down the road the tail gate opened and the anti theft system started going off while the car was running and still going. Come to find out there is a water leak in the rear that has gotten into the rear fuse box and has cause substantial corrosion. The latch to the tail gate is broken. Honda is telling us our extended warranty doesn’t cover any of this, even though it is common knowledge, that the water leak is a known problem from 2018-2021. We just found out a few days ago. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Auto Idle Stop not restarting after shutting the engine down. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | Car has completely shut off when the auto start/stop engaged after coming to a stop at a red light/stop sign on multiple occasions. Everything shut completely off, no radio, lights, etc. Had to push the start button multiple times to turn the car back on. Please investigate as I have read of this happening to many other people with 0 solution from Honda. This is a defect and should be recalled/fixed. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Odyssey. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Took my car to dealer 4/15/2024. Dealer stated no stock parts available. Dealer never contacted me anymore. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Mar 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE | All of my assist lights just came.on one after another saying there was a malfunction with the emmision light continues to go.on go.off even after I paid 580 to have the car serviced for the assist lights. Now the lift gate stopped working three weeks ago yesterday with all the rain that poured now the lift gate is open and will.not latch. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | The power trunk stopped working. The car starts warning me about a power tailgate problem. I have seen this issue reported by others as well. The warning light comes and goes randomly. The power trunk does not work at all anymore I have to open and close the trunk manually. I am concerned about the trunk malfunctioning further. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,SEATS,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | contacted dealership in Newburgh NY for recall. The rep pushed back making me wait 8 weeks. Dearlership in Middletown NY did not return call. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | This happened twice to us. While stopped at the red light the car suddenly shuts off and won’t start. We had to press and hold the start button for 5 seconds for the van to start. It appears that on both times the car just stalled. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Feb 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On 1/31/25 our rear tailgate automatically opened upon parking the car in our garage. Later that day, the tailgate would no operate properly and had to be manually opened. The key fob was functional and could operate all other doors in the car, except the tail gate. Later that day, while the car was parked in our garage, the tailgate started operating by itself, without pressing any buttons on the remote control key fob. It would open and close by itself and repeat the entire sequence over and over again. Upon turning on the car, the display identified a Power Tailgate Problem. The problem was reproduced by the Olathe Kansas Honda dealership. We took it to the dealership today and they diagnosed the problem, stating it is a Gate Control Unit failure (error code P1378 and P1379). Dealer confirmed what we experienced. We documented the safety problem via video. We were able to temporarily fix the issue by disconnecting the car battery overnight and reconnecting it the following morning. Safety concerns - This is a concerning issue as the tail gate could open by itself while driving, and/or could open by itself when you have the car parked in public, allowing theft of any items left inside. It could also open while someone is driving along a parking lot and cause an accident. There was no warning light prior to the malfunction of the tail gate control unit. We have found online that there may be a class action lawsuit regarding this issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: WARNINGS | I was driving in light snowfall when several alerts notifying me that the radar sensor was not working. This is common in snow fall. Later I cleared off the radar unit cover (The Honda logo on the front of the car). The alerts remained. I took it to the dealer and they dubiously told me it was "damaged by snow". This is impossible. It was light snow. There was no collision or impact. This device should be durable. It has no moving parts. But Honda wants me to believe that it simply stopped working from driving in a light snow. They want $1300 to replace. How do I know the next one won't conk out after the first snowfall? These units should have a lifetime warranty with only exceptions for collisions or impact damage. If the unit is damaged by snowfall, it's clearly too fragile and should not be on the market. It's a HUGE safety concern that the vehicle's advertised safety systems can be toppled like a house of cards from one light snowfall. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Power tailgate problem displayed on dashboard. Suddenly stopped working. Constant dinging noise when driving. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM | On 28-Dec-2024 I noticed the power tailgate stopped working on my 2021 Honda Odyssey. I tried to press the power tailgate button on the key fob, the button on the driver's side control panel, and the button on the tailgate itself, but none of them works. I did some research online and found out it's a common problem in 2018 to 2021 models and the cause was the failed Power Tailgate Control Unit due to water leakage through the cracks on the vehicle body. I opened mine and found there was water in the control unit box which might have caused short on the circuit board. I bought a new control unit a week later and it fixed the issue. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Jan 2025 | FORWARD COLLISION AVOIDANCE: ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL | The children message that the radar is obstructed, I did the clean where is the radar is but the issue still. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | AIR BAGS | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Odyssey. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 24V064000 (Air Bags); however, the part to do the recall repair was not yet available. The local dealer was contacted, and the contact was informed that vehicles with present failures were being prioritized for the recall repair. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure. Parts distribution disconnect. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Odyssey. While the contact’s wife was driving approximately 70 MPH, the vehicle began to lose automotive power with several unknown warning lights illuminated. The vehicle was driven to the shoulder of the roadway before stalling. The vehicle was unable to be restarted and was later towed to the local dealer. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The manufacturer was notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 72,000. | Crash: No Fire: No | 72,000 |
| Dec 2024 | STRUCTURE | The sliding door closed on my child's hand cutting the top of his finger off down to his finger bone. | Crash: No Fire: No Injuries: 1 Medical attention | Unknown |
| Dec 2024 | LATCHES/LOCKS/LINKAGES | The contact owns a 2021 Honda Odyssey. The contact stated that on one occasion while the vehicle was parked, the rear hatch failed to open. Additionally, the contact stated that while driving at approximately 35 MPH, the rear hatch opened inadvertently. The contact pulled over to the side of the road where the door was closed but failed to securely latch. The vehicle was taken to a dealer where it was diagnosed and determined that condensation had leaked into to the driver’s side of the gate and damaged the rear gate control unit. The vehicle was repaired. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage was 46,500. | Crash: No Fire: No | 46,500 |
| Nov 2024 | LANE DEPARTURE | A few weeks ago, the car I was driving steered itself dangerously close to a pedestrian in the breakdown lane. I was driving my wife’s car which I drive infrequently. This model has a lane-keeping function which steers you back into your lane if you veer. I was rounding a bend in the right lane on a highway as a man appeared on the edge of my lane, changing a tire, partially in the roadway. I was pointed away from him so I let the car coast out of his way but the car literally turned the wheel and fought me as I tried to veer left out of the man’s way. It all happened in less than a one or two seconds. Had I used the turn signal the system would have temporarily disabled itself. I shared this story on Facebook with my friends and several friends reported nearly identical issues with lane keeping driving them towards a hazard. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Nov 2024 | ELECTRICAL SYSTEM,UNKNOWN OR OTHER | Drive side rear power door stopped working. Upon using handl to opperate as usual the door stopped only a few inches open. A gentle shove got it open and opperational. The next day it did the same thing this time refuding to eithe ropen completely or re-latch. My children were in the car with me on the way to school and the door could not be opened to let them out or closed to safely proceed on our route. We began diagnositcs and found that the door continued to be problematic; opening just enough to be unlatched but nor going further, opening only half way and locking in place, or openeing completely then refusing to close... the door being in manual mode or power mode makes no differnece. after complelty disasembling the door/panel to check calbles and motor, checking fuses etc we put it all back to gether and suddenly it worked fin for about a dozen tries. HOWEVER the passanger side rear door (perviously untouched) suddenly developed the same problem. Now both doors will not function in either power or manual mode and I am waiting on the dealership to look into possible computer issues. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | UNKNOWN OR OTHER,ENGINE,FUEL/PROPULSION SYSTEM | After having the Honda Dealership perform an oil change and software update 23-008 (updating the Auto Idle Stop Software) last week, my engine stalled while at a busy intersection (PA turnpike/70 junction) during a road trip. At the long stop light the auto idle function engaged and the engine turned off. When the stop light turned green and I lifted my foot off the brake and pressed the gas the engine shut down and automatically went into Park. I had to press the start/stop button to fully turn off then turn back on the car to get the engine to restart. This is with a giant semitruck honking right behind me. The auto idle feature does not work. It sounds terrible every time the engine restarts after it has been engaged. There really should be an option to allow users to permanently disable it, and not have to remember to turn it off every time they start the car--terrible user experience. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | VEHICLE SPEED CONTROL | After the PGM-FI update was put into our car, the engine cuts out entirely while at stop lights and will not wake back up. The Honda dealership is saying that there is nothing they can do. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Oct 2024 | AIR BAGS | I attempted to have recall repair work done at the dealer where I purchased the vehicle a few months ago and they told me the part will not be available until 2025. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |
| Sep 2024 | SUSPENSION | I purchased a 2021 Honda Odyssey with 55,000 miles on it. At 57,000 miles with normal driving conditions, I heard a metal on metal noise on rear passenger side. Upon taking it to the mechanic, both rear springs were rusted & broken - essentially giving my van no rear suspension and making it very dangerous to drive. I had to find a new vehicle for my kids for a month and a half as there is no aftermarket part. Honda would not find the part for me and wanted me to work through the dealership, but I did not have the time as this is family vehicle that I need each day. I had an independent mechanic find a pair of springs from a junkyard & he confirmed that in his 40 years of servicing exclusively Hondas, he's never seen springs fail like this at this mileage. He expected a faulty part. I drove this vehicle multiple times thinking that it was safe & only something loose in the car. At any moment, the suspension could have failed & caused a serious accident. I do have the springs & have attached photos. Component has not been inspected by anyone other than myself & mechanic. No prior warnings or messages noting a problem. | Crash: No Fire: No | Unknown |